46.9% of residents of Kearny speak English at home.
25.6% of residents speak Spanish at home (51% speak English very well, 23% speak English well, 19% speak English not well, 6% don't speak English at all).
22.5% of residents speak other Indo-European language at home (52% speak English very well, 24% speak English well, 17% speak English not well, 6% don't speak English at all).
3.7% of residents speak Asian or Pacific Island language at home (47% speak English very well, 37% speak English well, 16% speak English not well).
1.2% of residents speak other language at home (65% speak English very well, 21% speak English well, 11% speak English not well, 4% don't speak English at all).

Foreign born population: 15,475 (38.2%)
(38.1% of them are naturalized citizens)

Percentage of workers working in this county: 32.0%Number of people working at home: 170 (1.0% of all workers)

Means of transportation to work

Drove a car alone: 11,314 (65%)

Carpooled: 2,205 (13%)

Bus or trolley bus: 1,237 (7%)

Streetcar or trolley car: 23 (0%)

Subway or elevated: 565 (3%)

Railroad: 531 (3%)

Taxi: 62 (0%)

Bicycle: 13 (0%)

Walked: 1,061 (6%)

Other means: 115 (1%)

Worked at home: 170 (1%)

First ancestries reported:

Other groups: 13,115

Portuguese: 4,533

Italian: 4,196

Irish: 3,716

Polish: 2,355

Brazilian: 1,521

German: 1,184

United States or American: 1,129

Scottish: 839

Scotch-Irish: 507

English: 503

Arab:: 315

Subsaharan African:: 315

Lithuanian: 301

Greek: 291

African: 245

French (except Basque): 241

Egyptian: 202

Ukrainian: 170

Russian: 134

West Indian (excluding Hispanic groups):: 128

Hungarian: 77

Swedish: 76

Slovak: 73

British: 65

European: 64

Welsh: 62

Austrian: 59

French Canadian: 57

Basque: 55

Macedonian: 52

Czech: 51

Armenian: 48

Trinidadian and Tobagonian: 47

Turkish: 36

Guyanese: 35

Arab/Arabic: 34

Norwegian: 34

Dutch: 32

Moroccan: 31

Czechoslovakian: 31

Lebanese: 30

Canadian: 29

Jamaican: 29

Croatian: 28

Haitian: 28

Other Subsaharan African: 25

Kenyan: 19

British West Indian: 14

Syrian: 12

Swiss: 11

Yugoslavian: 11

West Indian: 10

Ghanian: 9

South African: 9

Bulgarian: 8

Liberian: 8

Iranian: 8

Celtic: 7

Other Arab: 6

Belgian: 6

Danish: 6

Eastern European: 5

Slavic: 5

Latvian: 5

Romanian: 5

Maltese: 4

Most common places of birth for the foreign-born residents (%):

18%Portugal

11%Brazil

11%Peru

7%Ecuador

5%Spain

5%India

4%China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan

Place of birth for U.S.-born residents:

This state: 20,036

Northeast: 3,229

Midwest: 256

South: 379

West: 187

59% of Kearny residents lived in the same house 5 years ago. Out of people who lived in different houses, 59% lived in this county. Out of people who lived in different counties, 73% lived in New Jersey.